Final Fantasy of Might and Magic VIII
by The Lordaeron Paladin
Summary: A Heroes IV FF VIII crossover. What would happen if a dark force in Heroes IV arises to destroy both worlds? Will Worce Castle, a not too special boy in the real world aid Squall and his friends to stop that menace? With a dash of romance. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1: The Hero of Order

**_Disclaimers:_** 1) Final Fantasy VIII, its concept, characters and technologies all belong to Square-Enix as a matter of fact. Heroes of Might and Magic IV, its characters, heroes, worlds and concepts all (used to) belong to 3DO and New World Computing. (Now the HoMM franchise belongs to Ubisoft). I own none of these. What I own is the plot of the story, the main character Worce Castle and maybe the title Heroes Master (ain't gonna tell you guys who would get to bear that title, it would be spoilerish)

2) The interaction between two worlds may create certain "awkward" situations that may result in mild to severe OOC-ness. This is my first time fanfic, so please tolerate any mistake I have made!

3) To Final Fantasy VIII hardcore fans, in the first chapter, FFVIII influence is **_minimal_**. Please be tolerant and patient, I promise there will be more FFVIII later on!

_**Chapter 1**_

_**The Hero of Order**_

Summer holiday had arrived. Yeah, the same summer holiday that came and went every years, bringing along with it the sultry, burning sun and the joyous moments of every child's life, to bask in the sun an maybe seawater, to join all sort of you-know-what activities with other fellows in the alley,, or just to sit back and enjoy what they couldn't ordinarily do when their parents and teachers keep yelling them to do this and that during the much detested school year… That moment has finally come when the school bell rang for one last time, before class is finally dismissed and the devilish blocks of building known as schools will fall into oblivion for yet another three months to come, thus bringing happiness to whoever asked for it during the tedious school year. Every was looking forward to a happily and gaily spent three months to do whatever they want and get rid of all sorts of duties that their parents could ask of them.

But all of this was not true for a teen- in fact, a young man. Maybe that fellow was the only one that the earth could know of to be sitting alone in his room, on his bed, inertly and quietly listening to the sound of the summer wind blowing by, gazing at the empty street at sharp noon and waiting slothfully for time to pass, without doing anything specific at all. A closer look at him revealed a stern mouth and sharp eyes, sharply contrasting his current state of laziness. His fingers, now well positioned just below his chin to provide support, were actually quite thick- the sort of finger swelling you would fid in any professional gamer and/or scholar this proves the young man's capability, at least in one of the said fields. Obviously, summer had brought him neither joy nor glee…

His name was Worce Castle, a not-so-ordinary 14 year-old teen that you cannot meet everywhere. Worce was that kind of boy who loved to keep himself to himself at the joy of playing computer games and researching computer game-based lore. And out of all games, he would prefer Heroes of Might and Magic III: In the Wake of Gods. The way creatures are hired, stocked onto a hero, and then sent to battle, with spells and wizardry included to a hug extent, a whole range of artifacts and rare treasures for looting, lots and lots of hostile creatures ready to be beaten up, from the extremely powerful like the ominous Black Dragons or the evil Archdevil, to maybe just the tiny and puny Sprites, and most of all, the insanely powerful heroes that he has got the chance to recruit, build up their skills and send to do all sorts of things for the Emperor that is himself.

Before he realized it, Worce became horribly addicted to Heroes III, and became the best player in town in no time. His Heroes skill could only be rivaled by his academic excellence, for he is one of the best students of his school as well. The way he garnered his forces and send them charging into combat is unique. He always demonstrated his bravery by sending melee offensive units into combat the same time as he ordered his ranged units to open fire, yet by doing so, he also made sure that none of his men would die needlessly.

But finally, as the time would come, the boy started to grow tired of Heroes III. How overjoyed he was when he heard that 3DO was about to make a new installment, Heroes IV! How excited he was when he got the money to purchase the CD! How eager he was when he inserted the CD into the drive and got ready for installation!

But he was disappointed at the very sight of the first battle he fought.

3DO had disappointed him by making a Heroes IV much WORSE than its predecessor in many aspects. The more he played, the more bored he became and wondered what had gone wrong with the brains of 3DO staffs to make such a horrible Heroes game, for Supreme Archangel's sake. The point was, summer holiday was drawing close and apart from the Heroes games, Worce would have nothing to do. And that was the reason why Worce was sitting alone gazing at the street on such a bright summer day… that's just another case of chronic boredom. Thinking that there were nothing else to do, Worce sat down at his computer once more, hoping to whack some Venom Spawns for the sake of gaming sadism, and soon found out that with 1000 gold a day his Haven could barely pay for the Angels, his favorite last-level unit. More bored, Worce returned to his post and gazed aimlessly at the road again.

Had summer really been doomed for this Heroes III addict?

Well, maybe not.

A gust of cool air suddenly blew by- a rare luxury during the sultry summer. He suddenly blinked, and shook his head. Something really was NOT right about the wind. It was making him sleepy, far sleepier than he should be. Sooner than enough, the boy dropped still on his ear bed, fast and sound asleep.

The desert just southwestern of Galbadia, a place once quiet with no life activities but for a destroyed missile base and an out of service prison suddenly spurred up with activities. The sand making up the dunes of the desert twisted, disfiguring themselves, and as a whirlwind of extreme intensity went by later, a portion of the desert had changed drastically, with a huge stylishly built castle rising majestically out of nowhere, and now was standing gracefully in the middle of the desert, and the place just some hours ago was quiet and sleepy was now bustling with man-made activities.

The camera switches back to Worce Castle. How long had he slept? He didn't know. The only thing he knew was that his mind was completely empty the time he woke up. Apparently, he had no dreams whatsoever, in contrary to the usually dreamy nature of his dozes. He twisted and turned, only to find something rigid twitching at his neck and chest. Worce finally came to, and to his horror he was wearing a suit of breast plate over what should have been his T-shirt, a long velvet cloak over his shoulder and a sheathed, well-decorated long sword by his side. Looking more closely, he found out he was NOT in the bedroom that he called proudly his, but instead was lying on a luxuriously decorated single bed, in a room filled with expensive furniture and lined up with what seemed to be the best quality carpet that he had ever seen. Paying more attention, the horrified boy could over hear the highly distinctive chanting outside his "room", followed by shrieking sounds of lightning bolts and the unmistakable clash of energy bolt onto metal plates from the same place. Looking up the wall, the boy could see what seemed to be an insignia of sort, on which there was his name, surprisingly after the title "sir". Another closer look at the coats of arms revealed a gold-plated sentence "Grand Lord of the Academy of Castle Agoura". "Castle Agoura?" the bewildered boy thought to himself "but that is the Academy town in the tutorial of Heroes IV!" He remembered that this was the town that he had spent the most time building up, and by the time he completed the mission, he had built it up to a point it was virtually unbeatable, with all sorts of creatures ready for action, a huge income, and stocked into it a whole lot of gold. But what was he doing there in a castle that, though the boy believed he had spent time building up, he had never actually been to in person?

Hardly had he figured out what he should do, when suddenly the door flung open, and two figures stepped into the room, startling the already bewildered teen. Worce turned back, and found at his eyes a young elf wearing a hood over his head, with a bow ever ready to shoot, and a lady wearing a distinctive clerical gown, revealing her blonde hair underneath. He could still remember these fellows. They were the two heroes he sent on the so-called "solo mission" in an XL map of Heroes IV, during which they both got promoted to level 40, were insanely powerful and virtually invincible, namely Ivor and Ingham.

"Greetings, sir" the elf spoke up "did you sleep well?"

"Not really" Worce answered "I have never slept in full battle armor like this before"

"Yes, sir" the cleric replied "We were also surprised to see that you have chosen to come here to our humble fortress. This is an honor to us all"

"_Chosen to come?_" the teen thought "_I didn't know why I was here in the first place! How the hell did I come here?_"

However, he found out that it would be best if he didn't say a word and take their compliment for granted. He wasn't even sure what the situation he was in was, so it was better just to stay silence for the sake of it. He had heard of countless such tales of people going missing in a strange new world before in books and movies. The foremost tip for survival in such cases is just to keep your eyes peeled and stay away from possible trouble.

"Err... Thanks. The room was good… err, yeah, it was! Thanks a lot!"

"You are now the Lord of this Academy town, sir" the elf, whose name was confirmed to be Ivor, announced a bit solemnly "this town is yours to command"

"From now on, all what you have to do is to give an order and we shall follow your lead, sir" the cleric, apparently Ingham in his renowned hood, continued

"And finally" concluded Ivor "today there will be a formal banquet to honor your presence, Lord Castle. We have come to ask you to prepare a formal speech in front of your people"

"M…m…my people?" Worce stuttered, but then quickly regained his self-confidence when he remembered his rule of thumb. Anyway, he USED to control them all along before he went to this land! He had even commanded Ivor more than he could remember in Heroes III, and have never lost a battle. It was his right to be greeted as a hero in town, he thought, for he was a hero himself, at least in the game

"Alright then" Worce went on "what should I say to them?"

"It is up to you, sir" Ivor bowed solemnly "It is you who are giving out order now, as always"

Then the two heroes bowed respectfully to the teen once more, before leaving him bedazzled in the room.

He was starting to wonder what had happened to him. This time, when his clear conscience has come back, the boy started to mull over his situation. Why was he here? Was that a dream? Probably not, for he had pinched himself hard upon waking up, and nothing happened. One thing he knew was that he was miles from home (if not light years) and there was not quite a visible way to see himself home.

But why care? At home it was not quite of the fun he was always looking for, always being told to do this and that by his parents all day long. Now this is freedom. At least, now he had got the feeling of what being a king is like. You have an army tending to your every need, loyal followers who obey your very words, and political speeches to be made any time now. It sure was going to be tiring. But it shall be fun.

Worce went round to check the table. On it, the young man was amazed to find what seemed to be the city's quartermaster's logbook lying neatly on the surface. Naturally, assuming the position of a leader immediately reminded one of his duties. And so Worce went to check the log, only to find out to his wonder that his town was currently having a gold reserve of 100000, nearly 100 all other resources and a standing army of 2500 Dwarves, 1600 Halflings, 500 Gold Golems, 200 Nagas, 150 Genies, 50 Dragon Golems and 40 Titans… a nearly invincible attack force, provided that the date was day 1, week 1, month 1. And it was. _"I AM THE KING OF THE WORLD_!!!_"_ Worce thought loudly in his mind

Thinking so, the boy removed his cloak and breastplate as well as the offending blade, and leaped on the bed. He was about to think abut the most astounding political speech the world was bout to hear from someone of his age when he was disrupted by a loud explosion in the very middle of the room. Worce was once more startled, and even shivered in fear as white smoke filled the room. And out of the smoke emerged a man, or maybe just a figure, for he was so well hooded that what should be his visage was totally shade by the protruding cape. He was holding something that looked like the Staff of Wizardry in one hand and a Lion's Shield of Courage in the other. It was not even clear whether he was Life-or-Order or Death-or-Chaos aligned, for the way he walked towards the boy sure bore the notion of righteousness, but the shadow cloak he was wearing definitely declared the opposite.

"Worce Castle, am I right?" the man started speaking with a voice that is both sullen and warm, neither of which is dominant

"Y…y…yes… I am Worce. What do you want?"

"You are the one chosen to complete this task, I insist"

"…W…What task? And who are you?"

"I am the Heroes Master, the supreme supervisor of Enrothian and Axeothian might and magic heroes" continued the hooded man, staking one step towards the boy

"The Heroes Master? You mean you are like the god of the Heroes III world?" Worce nervously backed away from the man nervously, worried that the staff may come down on his head.

"I am not quite a god" said the man, this time much warmer than the last time "but yes, I can be like one at times"

"So what am I here for exactly?" Worce's sense of pride started to awaken, and he stood up straight in front of the hooded Heroes Master "what is it that I have to fight? A monster? Lots of monsters? A throng of monsters? Or…"

"Your task is" continued the Heroes Master, cutting the boy short "to assist a VIP"

"Is that the main reason why I was brought here?"

"Impressive, young man, and yes, that IS the main reason that I have brought you here today"

"So I was granted my first Heroes IV town, two insanely powerful heroes, a luxurious getaway and all you-know-what benefits of a full-fledge king just to assist a person? Is that a bit too exaggerating?"

"Young man, you haven't fully estimated the importance of this job. I was thinking whether I needed to give you two more Havens to begin with, but then insisted that that was not quite necessary."

For one minute Worce thought he was about to faint. "_What? Does he think of me THAT lowly?_" thought him. To him, the town he was having was nearly unbeatable. If he was allowed to get his hands on two more towns of similar strength, he would have ruled the whole map undisputedly. Any army weaker than 200 angels would be virtually squashed. And he let the young fellow use that just to _help_ a VIP? Surely this is horrible!

"Alright, Mr. Heroes Master, if I can call you that way" said Worce defiantly "who is this VIP?"

"I can't give you a name." answered the Heroes Master "maybe you can ask him yourself"

"What? Do you mean he is here to attend the party with us tonight?"

"No, my friend. He is going to come by next week."

"Next week?" asked Worce, clearly astonished "but as a demigod or something like that you should be able to know that there are hundreds of people coming in and out of a town like this everyday? Ho can I get to him if there are, say, a thousand or so people coming into town next?"

"As a matter of fact, young man, you are not in Axeoth now. Neither are you in Enroth. Instead, you are in a new world, and this academy is the first of its kind to have ever been erected out here. Furthermore, this city has been created in the middle of a burning desert where no one would come unless it is very necessary. Therefore, I believe no one will bother to come to this place apart from the VIP next week." explained the Heroes Master

"OK… then, what does he look like?"

"I don't have the time to describe him to you. I just want you to pay attention to his outfit. If among his accessories, you can see a locket with a lion imprinted on it, a sword with a handle and bullet chamber that resembles a gun- thusly called a gunblade, you would be able to tell that he is the honored guest. Also, if you still doubt, check his face. One scar across the face would tell you for sure he IS the man"

After saying those words, the Heroes Master disappeared, leaving only a cloud of white smoke around the room.

"Bzzt!" rebelled Worce after the Heroes Master has teleported away "Who did he think I am? I often used to best up a swarm of champions using just twenty Supreme Archies! And who could that be that could prove to be a problem for me?"

Worce returned to the bed. But his interest in writing an ultimate inauguration speech had died down. Now all he was doing was just to sit back and think about what was about to happen. What kind of terrible things could follow the VIP he was ordered to greet? He was not weak, mind you; in fact, he was one of the strongest when things break down to a matter of personality. The only thing in fantasy novel that appeared to be the trouble of any chosen reluctant hero was their tendency to feel nostalgic, which was not quite existent in our hero. Worce was ever ready to face any adventure, anytime now and then.

The banquet finally came, and it was even grander than he had thought before. Worce was let up a high tower, on top of which was a comfortable podium, where he was supposed to stand. Upon arrival he found that Ivor and Leslie had already been there waiting, in the position of faithful aides. Panting from climbing up the high tower, Worce took one step in front and almost immediately withdrawn. How high the tower was! It was quite higher than a ten-storey building, and the strong wind and thundering applause from the crowd of supporters below him was quite daunting, especially for the boy-who-never-socialize type like him. But then, it was the pride of an obvious gamewinner who used to gather a huge army under his command every time he played Heroes that finally pushed the teen back in shape, as he stood up straight and waved a friendly wave at the cheering crowd below.

The number of troops logistically was great enough, yet the actual sight of that army was even greater and more luxurious to the eye of a young teen like Worce. Rows and lines of Gold Golems and Halflings lined up in front of the castle courtyard, facing the pedestal reserved for the Grand Lord. Closer to his position was the block of freshly trained dwarves, holding their war hammers with pride to greet their lord. Further on in the background were the high-tech robotic Dragon Golems, whose Red Dwarven pilots had temporarily left to get a closer view of the Grand Lord's inauguration ceremony. Higher atop the observation towers were batches of genies desperate to get a view of their lord, together with massive-bodied titans who were just ready to take advantage of both their height and the parapet's to get the perfect view. In short, it seemed that whosoever populated this Academy was there to listen to Worce's speech, ready to obey his order!

Worce was laughing to himself for quite a while, showing "a leader's attitude" by waving here and there, when Ivor and Ingham urged at him and signaled him to give his speech. _"Oh no! What would I do? I haven't prepared anything!"_ But it was no time for hesitation any more. So he cleared his throat, summoned all his courage, took one step forward and began

"Oh… uh… ah… Hello, every body!" he spoke up, trying to seem as "political" as possible, which seemed to be doing the trick quite well, for there was applause everywhere.

"To begin with, I will eh… introduce myself! I am Worce Castle, and it looked like I have been chosen to be the Grand Lord of this… eh… wonderful Order city. I will… ah… in the name of Life and Order, bring peace and prosperity to this land, and (suddenly solemnizing his voice, thus making it sound funnily serious) if there is any evil of any sort out there I promise I will lead our glorious army to clear them up. This is the promise of an in-office Lord, and is (cough) sincerely made and will come into effect … ahem… right at the time it is made"

And then Worce went on blabbering about his plan to renew town, build new structures, defending the town, protecting the people and ridding the lands of the evil for some twenty minutes, until he was forced to stop by his two self-appointed aides, Ivor and Ingham. Worce blushed, and then followed his assistants down the tower to what seemed to be the Banquet Hall, where he was supposed to dine with the "prominent figures of his town" and do all sorts of protocols that a lord should do to his subject within his territory.


	2. Chapter 2: Where two worlds meet

_**Chapter 2**_

_**Where two worlds meet**_

To a suburban kid who rarely had the chance to experience power, this was definitely a chance to start ordering people around. Whatever was there, he just knew two things. First, he was the Grand Lord. And second, he is going to use that power. As for the party, Worce ate his fill, and then ordered some of his men to help him upstairs into the room he would from then call his. He was sure to have a great dream that night.

But just when he was about to doze away, he started to see things once more. This time, it was not the Heroes Master any more. Out of the blues, in the middle of his room emerged a very vague image of a young lady in blue armor, with two shining swords in her hands and a soulless look that nearly was dreadful to look at. Not accounting for her nearly soulless pair of eyes, she was quite pretty, with shoulder-length raven hair, and a pair of supposedly-cute puppy eyes, which remained dreary during the whole encounter. She looked at Worce half in animosity, half in doubt, or what could be translated to be an emergency signal, whatever. It looked as if she was about to say some thing, but at the very same time her own force was working against that will, resulting in the lady saying nothing after all.

She stayed there in the middle of the room for some time, during which time Worce dared not draw breath. The two swords flashing in her hands were especially intimidating, though it was rather unlikely that she would use them to slice Worce in half. The confrontation seemed to have lasted forever, for during the time she was there Worce didn't dare to do anything, and the lady wasn't about to move. Finally, she looked at the teen straight in his eyes, only mumbling some words _"I …am…Rinoa"_ and then vanished into thin air, leaving only two contrasting colored brink of light in her wake. The sudden appearance of this strange woman had diverted the boy from any thought of self-indulgence of power and wealth that had reigned in him over the last few hours. It seemed that he was sent there on a mission, as the Heroes Master had suggested very important and difficult. Fortunately, someone of his age would quickly forget about wealth and comfort when it came to excitement.

"_Okay, I have made up my mind"_ thought Worce _"mission comes first, next come fun"._ Thinking so, he sat up straight, thinking more of what he could do to this simple Academy town, what other sort of improvement could he make, what could he do to greet, and then, to aid the VIP. He couldn't help wondering what kind of business was waiting for him. Yet, from the look of things, he was sure it was something special, as much as he believed he _himself_ was special.

"_Next week's gonna be a busy week"_

At the same time, in the semi-military SeeD training center called Balamb Garden, everything was in a mess. Squall was not there to see to anything. Since the beginning of the war against Ultimecia, Garden students and even SeeDs had gotten so used to seeing Squall doing everything that now without both Squall and Headmaster Cid (probably still with his wife, the ex-sorceress Edea, in their old home at the Cape of Good Hope) everything seemed to be broken down. If it hadn't been for Quistis and Xu who tried whatever they could to get things back in order, things would never get going.

But Quistis wasn't that enthusiastic about taking over Squall's position, even just for an hour. Neither were the rest of their friends at rest. For the Legendary Couple of Balamb, Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly had both gone missing, one after the other. First, Rinoa left Balamb Garden on that fateful rainy day for Deling City, probably to pay her father a little visit, and never came back. She probably was not dead, for intensive searching operations carried out by both the Galbadian army under the command of General Caraway, the unfortunate father, and the SeeDs Surveillance Team led by Nida had only been able to come up with corpses of nameless monsters, and no trace of Rinoa anywhere. Extremely worried about his future wife's safety, Squall secretly left Balamb not long after the news of the mysterious disappearance reached Balamb. Since then, Squall, too, had disappeared. The disappearance of two among the Mighty Six who had ridded this planet of the evil sorceress called Ultimecia some time ago was more than a shock to anyone who knew them as well as those who didn't.

And yet their friends had no time to just do something. After all, the Garden needed to continue existing, with or without Squall and Rinoa. Various contracts had been sent and conveniently signed by Squall, who were at that time too overconfident about his and his peers' ability to get things sort out, just shortly before it all began, and now the Garden was just short of cadets or even lower ranking SeeDs to carry them out, so the task was passed on to the already busy higher ranking SeeDs. And now Selphie, Zell and Irvine were swimming in work all over the world. Also, the recent appearance of strange beasts never seen before roaming around the world was also a point of great interest, which was just too good a factor adding up to the SeeDs' field work. Quistis was a bit freer- still being able to stay in Garden, but the fact that ALL of Squall's paperwork was passed on to her was more than enough to incapacitate the blonde's all other abilities. Needless to say, the other three also felt that they were working in a sweatshop.

Finally came the one day when they all couldn't take it any more. Without any sort of appointment, the four assembled in the cafeteria that evening, eyes sore from lack of sleep and constant, prolonged anxiety, backs bent down due to extreme fatigue, and whole bodies aching because of heavy physical working. And they were on the brink of snapping.

"THIS IS ENOUGH!!!" Zell yelled. Apparently he couldn't take it more.

"Yeah… right" Selphie asserted "We are to do all sort of odd jobs and knowing that Squall is out there somewhere… maybe even needing our help!"

"Guys, I suggest quitting" Irvine dropped his usual joking-around manner "We don't need Garden. Sure we don't. Why do we have to stick to this job doing all sort of freaking things for those we hardly know…"

"…when our best friends are missing, and may have even died?" Selphie continued, ranting.

"Honestly" Quistis also stated her point "Everyone knows how important Squall and Rinoa are to us all. If this stupid job" she slung her file across the table "should deprive us of our chance to do up what should be done…"

"Bash the hell outta it!" Zell growled in absolute dismay.

"Hey Quisty" Irvine addressed "Any chance that we drop all this and get out to find Squall on our own?"

"…"

"No answer, instructor?" Zell addressed sarcastically "Is the _Garden _more important to you than Squall?"

Quistis' face turned red with disagreement

"Not a chance, Zell" she countered "We are good friends, and good friends don't leave one another in needy times. OK, I will quit too"

"Then it's decided!" Selphie stood up all of a sudden, startling all the rest "We shall go for Squall, and we are NOT going to care about the Garden, and NOT even about those crappy pile of contracts we have got out there!"

The four of them nodded to one another, saying nothing for some time. Certainly what they were about to decide had such a weight that they simply couldn't just shout out loud without thinking a bit over. But what should come would come, and finally, the four friends stood up, blinked at one another, and without a word, left the cafeteria, and finally, each went back to their dorm to pack things up and prepare,, and, shortly later, left the Garden itself. They were going for Squall and Rinoa. Wherever they might be then…

As for Worce Castle the newly appointed Grand Lord of Castle Agoura, the rest of the week was pleasantly spent on exploring the castle and the area around it. The Grand Lord was impressed not only by the wealth of his city, the beautiful scene outside his base, the supportive weather all around, but also by the awesome shipyard that his town possessed (quite a rare treat in any Heroes scenario, III and IV all alike). It looked as if his city was located at a very good location, both offensively and defensively. The teenage lord also paid visits to his barracks, visiting all those who had provided him with support (or, rather, applause) during his inauguration ceremony, from the rickety rank-and-file dwarves to the mighty Titans, from the short, small and zealous Halflings to the mischievous yet crafty Red Dwarves. He also went around the places to check his town's mines, HIS mines to be precise, as he was a king then, and made sure things that should be checked and guarded well were so, especially gold and gem mines- they were the lifeblood of his prosperous town.

"_This place is PERFECT for an empire to begin!" _Worce thought to himself many times yet before his sleep. His wealth, his kingdom army strength, his town construction… all what a Heroes IV player- though it was typically boring- could wish for. But the very next moment Worce would rather find himself lost amongst his doubts and random thoughts. What was he supposed to do there? Who was the Heroes Master? Who was the VIP he was supposed to provide aid, and what sort of trouble was he supposed to lead his army into battle and conquer? And most of all, who was the young lady who had appeared in front of him on that night, what was she about to do? What about her? Worce's heart began to twitch. If what the Heroes Master told him was the truth, that something horrible was going to happen soon, that he would soon be discovering such a sort of undeniable destiny, that he was the key point in a sort of anti-evil campaign, then what had he done, and what could he do to prevent the worst from happening?

"_Duh, I don't even know what the worst can be yet"_ the young man would think, and then would sink into his sleep again.

The time soon came for the event to take place: the distinguished guest with a scar face, a lion locket and a gunblade was about to arrive. Worce wondered what kind of guest this person could be. Could he be a mighty Life-aligned Knight whose Tactics and Leadership skills were beyond legendary? Or could he be a dark-bound Death-aligned Death Knight whose Necromancy was the sole proof of evilness? Or in any case, could he be a sly Chaos-aligned Thief ready to break laws at anytime and get away with it with his extensive Scouting skills? Worce was not to know yet…

Whoever he was, be he a guest he should be greeted with the utmost solemn diplomatic procedures. That was why Worce had ordered his men to stand in battle-ready formation, weapons held upright, facing the welcoming drawbridge, in the same way that he had seen diplomatic protocols being carried out on TV before. Anyway, all what they had to do then was to wait for the distinguished guest and greet him like a political leader deserving good honor.

By noon, no one had come yet to his castle

By the middle of the afternoon, there was yet a sign of the distinguished guest.

By sunset, still no one had arrived.

At this time Worce had gone so irritated that he was about to throw the tantrum and quit it all, letting the distinguished guest out of the castle for being unpunctual. He wouldn't even mind if he was not doing his part well. What's the point? He knew too well that he was just in an alternative world, and even if it had gotten shredded and blown up by mysteriously evil forces, he wouldn't care. It wasn't any of his business, and it would be the Heroes Master's fault for leaving such a great duty in the hands of just a young caretaker. And damn this guest! It was traditional for a host to wait for his guest, but it would be hard to believe that a host must wait for his guest for THIS long! There were two possible explanations, first, the guest was unable to come, or second, he was way too rude. And judging from the fact that the Heroes Master even appeared to him the night before just to remind him of what was supposed to take place today, it seemed that he would have given him further notice should things go awry again. So the first choice was out. The only remaining explanation was that the guest was too impolite to come on time. _"Well, being impolite to a king isn't anything good, my guest" _Worce thought to himself. So he moved up the observation tower, ordered his troops in formation to dismiss, and was about to lower the drawbridge, of course against the wish of both his "aides" who would rather him waited some more, when …

As the bridge was being drawn up, suddenly Worce saw a small shadow- actually a very deformed shadow- of a man who had been doubling and running at the same time, leaping over the drawbridge, landing right at the front of the rank of gold golems ready to dismiss themselves. As the gold golems mechanically moved to give way, thus forming a large empty circle around this strange man, the newcomer suddenly went down on his feet and then collapsed on the ground face-down with a loud THUD.

However busy one's mind could be, such an instance would always be a magnet, especially to the curious kind of people like Worce. He immediately led a team of field medics down to the clearing that the gold golems had created, approached the man and inspected him. Upon inspecting, the team found the man still breathing, though severely wounded, with several horrible cuts, stabs and nasty burns leaving him nearly dead. Immediately the genies went into work, and did what they should to make sure the poor man did not die… at least on the castle courtyard where ceremonies of the orderly Academy would be held. The motto of genies in such cases was always "Save anyone so that they don't smudge our Academy". And they succeeded. Though they were able to make sure the poor guy didn't stop breathing, they weren't quite capable of bringing him round just yet, so they just advised the Grand Lord to ship him into a first aid tent to spend the night.

After all had died down, Worce watched as the genie-medics brought the poor suffering man into medical attention, and was about to reorchestrate the dismissal of the Guards of Honor when he saw something falling from the poor wounded man's possessions. It fell on the ground with the distinctive sound of a silver artifact clashing against the hard ground. Immediately Worce dashed to the scene, and from the granite-paved ground he recovered a shining silver locket with the symbol of a lion head on it as if some sort of insignia. Startled, he ordered the wounded man to be thoroughly searched once more, and from his garment his genies soon recovered something that resembled a pistol, but had a sharp, blue blade to top it with, besides the ordinary bullet chamber and handle. And that was not all; a large scar was also identified right across the bridge of his nose! Immediately he realized what it was all about and why his guest of honor was so late for the ceremony. The wise boy at once ushered his best genies to come round and help with the recuperation of this man and see to his being safe and sound- HE was his guest!

Now the King's sense of duty came back. Deciding that no king should ever let his distinguished guest die within his own domains, and also by the commands of the mysterious Heroes Master, Worce decided that he should really do something about this.

His genies immediately went to work, sending into the medical room as much rare medicinal herbs and magical healing scrolls as they could find all over Castle Agoura. Ingham lent those medical amateurs a hand too- he used to be a very educated abbot in Erathia before. That whole night, flashes and flames burst out everywhere within the clinic, the flare of the process could have been seen a mile away. Worce knew nothing about practical magic except ordering his trusted genies around to do this and that for him, without even paying attention to how they did it, and so this time all what the Grand Lord could do was to pray that the poor guy survived the ordeal, for yes, genies were a kick in combat, but in treating wounds and healing a person? You gotta be kidding. If the genies did not mistakenly cast an Ice Bolt instead of a Heal on the poor guy, good for him. If not, mission failed. And so, Worce spent the rest of his night twisting and turning, worrying about the fate of the poor man in the hands of such amateur medics…


	3. Chapter 3: Squall's Plight

_**Chapter 3**_

_**Squall's Plight**_

The next day came with a sound cock-crow as Worce tried to push himself up from his sleep. Who could blame him? Hardly had he slept when those darn chickens signaled him that it was high time he had gotten up. Still tired, the boy decided to have himself a wash, and then do what he should- go down to the clinic to check the poor man's status. But hardly had he stepped into the luxurious bathroom of his suite when the bedroom door banged open and a very exhausted, yet smiling Ingham stepped inside.

"Your Lordship" he addressed solemnly, bowing down "It is done"

"Done?" Worce spoke, with a definite sigh of relief "Is he well yet?"

"Sleeping soundly like a wrapped-up baby, nice and well again, my lord"

"Oh great" the boy exhaled deeply, doubling himself so as the tip of his hand reached the ground "So all what we have to do is to wait for the Heroes Master to come for him, right?"

"Yes, sir" answered the ex-abbot, who then quickly switched to telling some off-topic details "And by the way, sir, this guest seemed to have had some trouble… emotional trouble, or that was what I think"

"Well?" asked an astonished Worce "How did you know that?"

"Last night, the genies in charge as well as my humble self have all heard this man mumbling phrases like _"Rinoa, where are you" _or _"How can I find you…Rinoa" _and all things like that. The young genie in charge of the medicine cupboard even told me that he couldn't sleep yesterday when that man kept mumbling in his sleep like that"

"_Rinoa"_ thought Worce _"Isn't she the lady in blue armor the other day? Isn't Rinoa her name? What had she to do with this young man?"_

Thinking so, Worce immediately sensed something fishy around. He then dismissed Ingham and went to the clinic himself to see to this young man.

Upon reaching the well-decorated clinic, the Grand Lord was informed by the genies there that the poor victim had been brought round. Worce decided that he would lose no more time there and went straight into business. He entered the ward, walked towards the half-sitting wounded man with the proud stroll of a full-fledged king, and stood majestically in front of his guest.

"Greetings, distinguished guest" He spoke up, again trying unsuccessfully to sound like a real king- his voice sounded childishly ridiculous, which could make everyone laugh. Fortunately, this man didn't laugh. He might be too weak, or maybe, too depressed to laugh. Or maybe he found it to be not funny after all.

"So you are the one in charge here, I suppose?" the man replied, then raised his right hand to make a sort of salutation "My most sincere greetings"

"Well, I don't have so much time here- you see, it is hard running an academy like this- so let us make this quick. First, please tell me about yourself"

The wounded man said nothing. Instead, he shoved his left hand into his leather jacket, and took out what seemed to be a sealed scroll, with the seal bearing the shape of a blue parrot, and then handed it over to Worce, who then opened the seal carefully and started reading- aloud

"To Whom It May Concern,

I, the Heroes Master, hereby declare the bearer of this letter a Person of Ultimate Importance. The standing heroes, armies, both garrisoned or on field operations belonging to Castle Agoura must put the protection of this man's life and safety to the utmost priority. As for the identity of this messenger, his resume is attached below"

Worce then turned over the leather scroll, and read its contents out aloud once more

"-Name: Squall Leonhart

-Age: 18

-Current occupation and rank: A-rank SeeD, standing Commander of Balamb Garden

-Mission briefing: It is highly recommended that this man's identity and status be kept in discreet until the Heroes Master's envoy arrives. Until then, Castle Agoura must do whatever it takes to safeguard his existence."

Worce folded the leather scroll and laid it on the table, then turned to the man again

"So you are Squall Leonhart, an army commander? What an honor"

"In fact it is not an army. I am a SeeD… a member of the Balamb Garden"

"SeeD?" Worce opened his mouth widely and rolled his eyes "What on Earth is SeeD, for King Gryphonheart's sake?"

"So you don't know SeeD? This is quite surprising..."

"OK then. I don't have that much time for you to explain right now. I just have to know you are a soldier, that's it isn't it? Fine then. By the order of the Heroes Master, you will be granted Official Asylum Right here. You will be free and safe to do whatever you want as long as you remain within the town." Again, Worce made himself sound ridiculous by trying to sound political, or more likely, _royal_.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Squall asked

"Well, just make yourself at home here, and do not mess up with things you don't know what it is, that's all. Now, I would like to excuse myself…"

Saying so, Worce bowed to his guest, and then slowly left the room in the pseudo-royal pose he had been in the moment he stepped in. Squall was left all alone then, to think of what sort of situation he had been through…

Talking about Squall… The reason why he ended up at Castle Agoura was no less interesting.

After leaving the Garden, Squall wandered all over the world, going to places he thought Rinoa might be. And yet, all of his efforts were futile. She certainly was nowhere to be found all over Galbadia, for if she had been there, the search teams would have found her. Not even was she in Centra, as the White SeeDs would have very well discovered her if they continued their seafaring trips around the Centra archipelago. And in Esthar, perhaps? Not a chance, as his father- President Laguna Loire himself had commenced his own search teams at a grand scale all across the Great Plains of Esthar, and the enchanted guards of this once-sorceress ruled nation would be capable of sensing the presence of another sorceress were she there. Let alone rumor was in the air that she was having _something to do_ with the President's family. All things considered, there was simply not a place in this planet that Rinoa could be logically in.

Squall was distraught. He couldn't bear the fact that Rinoa might have died, and yet couldn't help thinking so. A person being lost for so long without a trace could very well be dead, couldn't she? And Squall was simply unable to cope with such a fact should it be the truth. And yet…it might very well _be_ the truth. The poor brunet's hope lessened day after day. It was three months now since she had mysteriously vanished, and there had yet been any progress in the SeeD commander's search. And he just couldn't be blamed, for full-scale search parties had been sent tout to no result, let alone his single-handed effort.

Hopeless, one particular afternoon Squall unconsciously went back to Edea's house… A promise had linked both of them to this place, and Squall's subconscious mind took him back to this place, where he believed that Rinoa might be waiting for him.

The gunblade-slinger entered the ruins. No one was home, not even Cid and Edea, which was actually quite strange. But Squall did not quite care about that old couple then. His mind was fixed on Rinoa. He moved quickly for the blooming field just beyond a broken archway. It was at this place that one year ago, the couple had made their most solemn promise to each other. Everything was the same since then. The flower field was still in full bloom, the sky was still blue, and the air was still bittersweet with both the scent of the flowers and the saltiness of the ocean. Everything was the same… except her. By terms of the promise, Squall again found himself standing at the old place, waiting,. So on, so forth, the distraught brunet sat down there at the place for three full days without leaving, in the vain hope that she would show up there, provided that he waited. But she didn't, to which there were only one possible explanation: She is dead.

"_It mustn't become like this…Not now…I am her knight…Her K-N-I-G-H-T! She trusted me so much…and I can't do anything when she's in trouble?"_ Squall thought, sitting down at the wall. He had been waiting for well over three days, without leaving the place. Finally, fatigue and exhaustion had taken its toll, and the Commander collapsed on the flower field, and fell into a deep coma…

That was it. This time he was going to die. Losing Rinoa was one thing, but the feeling of guilt was another. No longer could he withstand that. He had promised never to leave her again, never to hurt her, never to give up his embrace to her. Yet he had just failed. And now the complete exhaustion he was undergoing seemed to be a perfect end for him… the end for a complete loser. But yet still, when the young brunet was about to give up and perish, a hooded shadow hovered directly above him, and the unconscious Squall was, strangely, able to hear what he had to say to him.

"Wake up, Squall Leonhart. Your times hadn't ended yet."

Following that speech, rays of light coming from nowhere started to shoot at Squall, covering him completely, blurring whatever was left of his vision. Still weak from the long wait, Squall tried to push himself up, but failed all too well, as hunger and obvious fatigue could apparently bring down the proudest of lions.

"…Who…who are you?" he spoke feebly

"You are not supposed to die yet. One day you will, of course, but this is not the time. Not here, not today." The hooded figure hovered around him once more; shedding rays of blue light in his wake "As for me, I call myself the Heroes Master"

"The…Heroes…Master?" Squall spoke, gasping for breath

"You have an important mission, young one. A very important one indeed, one that you MUST go as a matter of course"

"I am not going" Squall put all his strength in one berserk negative, and then fell back on the ground again.

"Well, well, well…" the Heroes Master spoke sarcastically "A so-called lion going to die over a mere woman? What KIND of a man, let alone a SeeD are you?"

Squall's eyes flared with anger. Who did that man think he was to insult him like that? And insulting his Rinoa too? Putting the last ounce of his strength on his Lionheart, Squall threw a desperate slash at the hovering shadow, only to find out that the mysterious hooded flying figure was able to block out his deadly attack wholly.

"No hope, Squall" the Heroes Master smirked "You have become quite… pathetic already. Well, that's bad for you only."

By now, Squall had become so weak that he could barely keep himself standing. He fell down on his knees, still maintaining a savage eye contact with the man who called himself the Heroes Master.

"What do…you…mean?"

"Well, if I told you that your world is coming to an end and you are amongst the few who could save it, would you believe me?"

"What...Urgh…" Squall could only mumble those words, and then collapsed on the ground again

"Oh, my most sincere apologies. The memory of this old one has obviously failed him" the Heroes Master said, landing on the ground on his feet, proving that he did have one pair, and then produced a flask of greenish water "Here, young man, drink this"

Squall did not know why, but he actually reached for the bottle and poured the whole content into his mouth. It tasted like seltzer water, but after he had swallowed the last drop, the exhausted brunet suddenly found his lost strength rushing back to him. Squall then found himself on his feet once more, looking at the Heroes Master in his eyes again.

"What did you say again?"

"I have readily told you that your world is facing its very END, son of Laguna"

"Sorry, old man. This is none of my concern"

"If that business had something to do with a young lady called Rinoa Heartilly, would you say yes?"

For a split second, the "son of Laguna" thought that a lightning bolt had struck right through him, sending him into a berserk state yet again. He leaped at the Heroes Master, attempting to grab his neck, only to find that the "old man" had teleported himself a safe distance away from his rampage. Unable to grab the ghastly figure of the man, Squall took one step back, still facing the shadow of the man, drawing out his Lionheart threateningly

"Listen, if you dare touch her even by the fingertip, I swear you will not make it through today!"

"Interesting, young one" the Heroes Master grinned, and then approached Squall slowly, thus making the brave SeeD commander unconsciously back off. He then looked at Squall's blade, and looked at him again "This blade you call it the Lionheart, right?"

"Move off, old man" Squall ordered furiously, to no effect

"The Lion and the Griffin are the proudest and fiercest wild beasts that the universe had ever seen" the Heroes master said serenely, then suddenly clenched his voice "You are neither of them, I am afraid. Instead, you are just a below-average stag going head over heel for a female one, and tending to go nuts when she goes missing. Pathetic, Leonhart, pathetic indeed"

It was quite visible then that Squall's face had turned red with anger. Not saying a word, or in fact, not being able to say a word, the gunblade-slinger drew his gunblade, charged it up, and with a loud battle cry, rushed at the Heroes Master, and unleashed the Renzokuken with the fullest degree of fury. When the final blow went home, and the meddler seemed to have been finished, Squall look back with a proud smile, but then dropped his jaw when he saw that the Heroes Master was still there, well protected by a purple sphere covering his whole body.

"Hah, nice work, young man, but what a pity… not good enough to take me down" The Heroes Master spoke between the psychotic beep all around him

Squall dropped his knee on the ground, panting. _"Who was this man?" _Squall thought bitterly_ "Why did he come for me? And what did this have to do with Rinoa?" _He looked up at the meddler in an obviously tormented look.

"Well, so what now, young man?"

"What did you do to Rinoa?" Squall screeched between his teeth "I have warned you already…"

"Say, young man" the Heroes Master looked at Squall again, this time with a much more serious look "She is NOT in my keeping. Her whereabouts is still a mystery to us all. We only know one thing. She is probably NOT dead and NOT well as well"

Squall's heart sank upon hearing this. He looked at the Heroes Master and questioned him weakly

"What can I do to save her?"

"That's more like it, Squall Leonhart" the Heroes Master remarked "You must make a sort of journey… well, in fact, something resembling a pilgrimage"

"A pilgrimage? Where to?"

"As you can see, in the desert southwestern of Galbadia now lays a new city… a fortress in fact, called Castle Agoura. This is your destination"

"Castle Agoura? I have never heard of it before… not even in my dreams"

"Because it has just been erected quite recently. Now, your mission would be to get there secretly by any means possible, in one week's time. You will be welcome like a very special guest there, provided that you arrive at the correct time and place. After that, all what you have to do would be to stay put there, until you receive my further orders. I insist that as a SeeD you have gotten used to following to orders, am I right?"

"Well… If this has anything to do with Rinoa, then I'll do it"

"Alright, there are also a few restrictions you will have to follow. First, you must not show others your identity. Let them all think that Commander Squall Leonhart has gone missing in action. Secondly, you must arrive as punctually as possible, for the Grand Lord of that city would be very unlikely to accept late guests"

"No problem. What else?"

"Here" the Heroes Master said, drawing out a leather scroll, firmly bound by a blue parrot seal "when you arrive at the destination, the first and foremost thing you have to do would be to hand this sealed scroll over to the Grand Lord of that castle. He will then give you primary orders, and you will have to wait there until you receive further instructions. Did I make myself clear?"

"You did, old man, except that even now I don't know what the hell you are talking about"

The Heroes Master said no more, but instead handed him something that looked like a map of the Galbadia continent, blinked at him, and then vanished into thin air in the same mysterious way he had appeared.

Now Squall was left all alone again. He laid his head down on the field, thinking. So he now got one week to go to a place nonexistent just one week- a little more or less- ago, secretly and probably manually, for taking any other sort of vehicles would end him up being spotted- Squall was at that time universally famous as a hero which would come in direct violation of the first order. And walking on foot from Cape of Good Hope to the Galbadian Desert was just as hard as hell. But anyway, it was for the safety of Rinoa. For her he would do anything… even going to the moon (he had done so already)

What happened next was only enough to demonstrate what kind of a man-with-a-pathetic-luck Squall Leonhart could be at times. It took him four days and a half to hire a fishing boat to Galbadia, something that was quite too difficult because the number of ships happening to pass the Cape was extremely rare, let alone fishing boats. And then it took him another two days to find the way around the desert, fighting off numerous monsters quite unnecessarily, as the Heroes Master was definitely not a cartographic expert, and Castle Agoura's position was left dangling ambiguously over an area ten times the size of Deling City on the map. Squall moved all around the desert in such w way, cursing the Heroes Master for such a bad map and an unlikely mission all the way.

But nothing was impossible for one knight determined to find his missing damsel in distress, especially if the damsel happened to be his wife-to-be, and by sharp noon on the seventh day, a large, white-walled, well-guarded and beautifully fashioned appeared right in front of his eyes as if it were a mirage. And what was better, it was just not. It was real. Ands he was probably just two or three miles away from it now. Castle Agoura was just up ahead.

But as an overjoyed Squall ran down the dunes to reach for the city, the sand below him suddenly trembled and broke, as if from a huge fissure, and the temperature around him suddenly rose to an unbearable level. Squall was blown pretty badly away from his standing position, landed squarely on his posterior, and when he managed to raise his head above the ground, in front of him stood a magnificent, ferocious, flame-breathing pitch black dragon, seemingly carnivorous and was apparently hungry for some well-chewed and grilled humans. It was the mystical, ominous and chaotic evil Black Dragon, one which was obviously, and strangely enough, NOT a resident of the Galbadian Desert. And Squall, a young, juicy human who have inadvertently violated the Black Dragon's 'resting place' was perfect for his lunch.

As a matter of instinct, Squall immediately jumped one step backward, facing the fierce dragon, then yelled out for Ifrit, who at once heeded his call and appeared, after which he brought this huge flaming red comet down on the dragon's head with a loud explosion. Squall moved forward again, thinking that the dragon had obviously blown up. But to his surprise, the Black Dragon was still there, unscathed from the explosion. He took virtually no damage at all, which was something Squall had never seen before, since the first time he had ever used GFs. Being unfamiliar with creatures of Axeoth, Squall got no idea that dragons were completely spell-proof, and thus was immune to Ifrit's fearsome Hell Fire as well. And the dragon's counterattack was far quicker than any other wild creature Squall had met before, and its scorching Breath Attack had obviously thrown young Leonhart off the ground with a badly scalded chest, and he collapsed.

The dragon did not stop there, though. This time it was not only Squall's meat that he was after. Everyone knew what kind of a filthy scavenging beast who loved gems, treasure, glittering artifacts and gold as much as good- probably humanoid creatures- meat and carnage a Black Dragon was. Unfortunately, the son of Laguna had, upon falling, revealed to this unearthly dragon what kind of treasure he was having- the marvelous, shining blue-bladed Lionheart gunblade. And upon realizing the treasure and just how rare and valuable it was- those greedy dragons also had a knack for determining the actual _monetary_ value of a certain piece of artifact- the dragon started to attack poor Squall even harder, with both his claws and fire breath, in the hope of taking away the Lionheart sword as well as having a good lunch.

After just barely five minutes Squall Leonhart was covered in wounds of all sorts, and was hardly standing upright. A dragon's might was anyway legendary, and no one except other legendary creatures could hope to stand up against it. By then, the dragon was roaring- in fact, laughing in a Black Dragon's tongue- and flew up high with its huge spanning black wings. Its goal was to completely devour the human in a solid killing dive. By then, Squall was quite defenseless, with his GFs unusable, and his arm barely intact to use the Lionheart properly. Right when all hope was lost, though, Rinoa Heartilly's familiar image span around his head, and when Squall realized just how hard he must try to live for her, to save her like one brave sorceress' knight- she was alive and needing him by the words of the Heroes Master- his strength came back once more. He slowly reached for his Lionheart, and, at the very moment the Black Dragon thought he had eaten and robbed all to well, a blinding flash and six decisive slash went home, and the dragon was split into ten-odd pieces. Renzokuken had just done what it should, and the greedy dragon's life had come to an abrupt end, without his even realizing that he had died.

Alas, Squall's vitality was exhausted when the mutilated pieces of the dead dragon fell down on the ground. And when the last drop of dragon blood had splattered on the burning desert sand, he also lost his balance and fell down comatose again…

Though, a sense of duty was able to keep Squall a bit conscious of what was going on, and when he finally woke up, the sun wad already setting. _"Castle Agoura! I am late!" _Leonhart screamed in his mind, and then, pulled himself together and sprinted for the white castle over the horizon. What happened next was that he barely made it there, after which he once again fell into a coma due to loss of blood, exposure to extreme heat and exhaustion.


	4. Chapter 4: The Blonde and the Elf

_**Chapter 4**_

_**The Blonde and the Elf**_

Irvine Kinneas kicked a cola can hard into the stream in front of him in frustration. When the major jokebringer of Balamb had failed to come to his normal sense of humor, it meant that something was just not right. And this appeared to be just the very case. The good news was, the gang, Zell, Irvine, Selphie and Quistis, had defected from Balamb Garden safe and sound, meaning that the useless days spent on doing other people's odd jobs had come to a temporary end, and they could focus on their self-assigned task to look for Squall and Rinoa. The bad news was that they didn't even know where to begin. And that led to the ugly news, that mission was prone to fail. Squall Leonhart was nowhere to be found all over the world, let alone Rinoa. And right now the search team had gotten itself in an anonymous locality just some twenty miles away from Deling City, having a rest under a particular shade beside an anonymous stream so as to avoid the sultry sun. Frustration was now at its very peak.

"Could you please stop making noises?" the rattling and splash of the empty cola can falling into water had apparently bothered an already disturbed Quistis "I am trying to concentrate here"

"Damn thing" Irvine snapped "Next time if he goes somewhere I would vote bugging his equipment so that he wouldn't get out of range like this"

"Can't agree better" Zell nodded, looking bored to death, then suddenly changed topic "Galbadian hot dogs surely sucks. I can't just feed on it forever!"

"But hey, Quisty" Selphie ignored Zell's ranting and pinched Quistis until she had to turn back, and asked "What made you think that Squall might have come here? Hadn't the Galbadian Army confirmed to Garden that Rinoa was nowhere to be found on this continent?"

"One word, Sefie. Distrust" Quistis answered abruptly, taking a sip of water from her canteen

"Eh? I don't get it!" Selphie opened her eyes wide in astonishment

"Squall has never before trusted any Galbadians except maybe Rinoa" explained Quistis "That includes General Caraway, too. He just, well, didn't believe in the official result from the Galbadian search, perhaps"

"But to tell the truth, Rinny could just be _anywhere_! Well, maybe except Garden"

"Not really. You know how hard the Esthan effort to look for poor Rinny in their territory was carried out? It was probably the greatest search effort that Esthar had ever seen since Laguna's inauguration. It is even rumored that they had even left no stone unturned over in Trabia as well"

"Ah, can't help it" Zell raised his eyebrows "The President was doing his best to save his daughter-in-law-to-be"

"So Esthar is now out of our list" Quistis nodded, making a note to herself "And furthermore, a sorceress cannot go anywhere without being spotted telepathically by another. We still got no news from Matron, didn't we? If Rinoa were anywhere around the southern continent, she would have known, wouldn't she?"

"Meaning that only Galbadia is left for searching?"

"In my opinion, sadly yes" Quistis leaned against a sideway boulder tiredly

"Wait, wait, wait, my head is going all dizzy!" Zell shook his head in disbelief "So who ARE we searching for now? Squall or Rinoa?"

"It is highly trustworthy that if we find one of them, we will get the other soon…" Quistis pushed herself up a bit "You see, they are so… inseparable"

"But then anyway, it might be possible that Squall had not found Rinoa yet, right?" Selphie remarked skeptically "Still it's not his fault if he hadn't!"

"Well, you mean we have been searching all along at a wrong place, was it so, Sefie?" Irvine drew his gun playfully and aimed up the sky "you know, I would have suggested going to see Ellone for a dream therapy if we got the chance to"

"No way, Irvy" Selphie snapped almost at once "Sir Laguna must have done all he could already… Elle included, of course" She immediately stopped in horror, and started stuttering "Hey, guys… do you think that Squall and Rinny have… have…"

"Stop being pessimistic!" Quistis brushed Selphie off totally, but her voice showed as much pessimism as her friend "They have both survived Ultimecia. What on earth could kill them?"

"Whatever" Zell said, throwing his backpack over his shoulder, and, turning back to everyone, clapped his hands "We still have to go, right? So c'mon now, we have to start going quickly"

Zell stood up right after that, spitting out a mouthful of Galbadian hot dogs. They definitely were not worth eating, even if he was desperate for some to calm his mood.

"Damn hot dogs" he said, growling "Yo, Rinoa's dad should do humanity a favor and execute all those mud headed chefs for making these hot dogs"

"Forget about eating, Hotdog Crunching Boy!" Irvine teased him, and then suddenly turned serious "I wonder where Squall is now. Got any idea where we are going next, Instructor Trepe?"

Quistis said no more. She picked up her life-supporting paperback book on global monster zoology from the ground, and laid it over her head. The blonde then discarded her empty canteen down the stream with a loud splash, throwing water all over the grassy bank, and walked off briskly, obviously aimlessly into the open space ahead. Everyone else knew that, but that didn't seem to matter. They were lost too, and needed a leader to follow, even if that leader herself did not have any idea where to go yet. All of them couldn't just believe that Squall or Rinoa was dead, but yet couldn't help thinking that way. Self-deceit was necessary when the situation was extremely appalling, it seemed

Back at Castle Agoura, the blissful castle the seemingly omniscient Heroes Master had chosen as Squall's temporary hideout. In a small, but obviously first-class apartment up high in the Central Tower of Castle Agoura sat at the table a lone figure dressed in a black jacket and white T-shirt, digging his forehead into his palm. In the last few months, strictly since Rinoa's disappearance, he had been doing that every time he thought of her. And now, upon hearing from the Grand Lord that he was entitled to whatsoever he needed, provided that the castle could afford it, he decided that he should do something to ease his pain: Drawing. The Heroes Master had implied that he had a very important job to do, and he HAD TO go on as a matter of duty. There must be something he had better do to at least take his mind off his unfortunate girlfriend. But that didn't seem to have worked out though, for every time he started to think about drawing the beautiful scenic beauty outside his window- Castle Agoura had been erected at a marvelous geographical location with magnificent sunsets and sunrises- he would end up drawing a portrait of Rinoa Heartilly instead. Strangely, Squall was never an artist before. He used to even detest drawing pictures and making poems. And this time, his portraits of Rinoa were so perfect, so vivid and lively that one could hardly believe it had been the work of an amateur. It was now one week since his arrival, and portraits of Rinoa had been filling up his desk drawers already.

At first, Worce Castle wondered what on earth the new guest could probably ask from him, and frowned at the thought of a troublesome, demanding guest. He was wrong. His only request was no disturbance, and a few sheets of paper and some brushes. Observing the "SeeD Commander", Worce found out that all what Squall did in town was staying there alone in his room, having meals as regularly and routinely as a machine, sitting and/or lying down on his bed all the time, hand not leaving his forehead, and then, all of a sudden, springing up and scribbling madly at the pile of paper left conveniently on his table by Worce's Halfling servants. Upon seeing that strange behavior of someone in Squall's age, Worce was more than troubled and confused. _"Hey, man"_ he thought _"That guy was barely four years older than me! And he was like, living like an old man!"_ Out of curiosity, he asked his best Halfling spy to sneak into the Commander's room and find out what was he doing in there. The Halfling returned half an hour later, with a broken nose and bleeding cheek, the visible result of a point-blank range bash on the face. This added even more to Worce's curiosity, but he decided to abandon the mission for fear of indirectly injuring another of his servants.

It seemed that Squall Leonhart's attitude was contagious- in no time the whole crew reserved for attending to Squall's every need found themselves both jobless- Squall had no requests but to be left alone- and depressed. Even Worce was losing his interest. He had really expected his guest to be a brave, ironclad, greatsword-wielding swordsman who was extremely boastful and proud of his earlier exploits against the Kreegans and Necromancers- the standard Erathian knight figure. Instead, he was given this I-care-about-nothing antisocial keeper of an abnormal looking sword as his guest of honor. And what's worse, while he was in such a stream of thought, he got yet some more not-so good news. The Ranger, Ivor, stepped into his throne room and bowed solemnly- something not quite usual of the extremely arrogant AvLee elf

"My lord" he said, still bowing on his knees "I must ask you for a favor right now"

"What is it, Ivor?" Worce asked anxiously

"I am asking for a leave, sir"

"A leave?" Worce was shocked "Why now?"

"I have just received this letter" Ivor said, producing a sealed paper. Worce knew this seal all to well. It belonged to the new elven kingdom of Aranorn, which was enjoying the fair and just reign of King Elwin and Queen Shaera. This was also the place every AvLee elf surviving the Reckoning called home "And it seemed that my homeland is right now under attack by some extremely ferocious beasts. I have to go back right now to defend it against the invaders, whoever they are."

"Oh well" Worce sighed in dismay "So when do you have to go by the order of the great King Elwin?"

"As soon as possible, your lordship" Ivor replied almost at once "The King insisted that because I am the greatest archer to have survived the Reckoning, I should come back to service immediately"

"_Beginning his boasting already" _Worce thought, looking at the absolutely proud elf _"Guess I must let him go anyway"_

"Alright then Ivor, you have my permission. You are dismissed" Worce announced in a Worce-ish pseudo-political voice to the waiting Ranger "Remember to return to Agoura as soon as it is done"

"Yes, your lordship" the elf bowed again "I must excuse myself now, my lord"

And with that, the elf quickly strolled out of the room, at Worce's dismay. _"That's it, man"_ the Grand Lord shook his head in fatigue_ "Now with Ivor gone that freak Squall Leonhart would haunt this castle even more. Damn thing he couldn't pull himself together a bit or just go out and play"_

Back to Quistis' search team. After that not-so-pleasant midday rest, the group continued their sweaty and aimless trail in the vain hope of _accidentally_ run into Squall in due time. It was quite illogical, but it was the only thing they could do then.

Two hour, three T-Rexaurs and six Jelleyes later, Quistis and her friends found themselves in the middle of yet another unknown forest. Their steps soon took them to a river crossing that had to be braved, but alas, instead of a bridge or a shallow to walk on, there were just a couple of stone steps connecting the two banks. And the current was quite threatening, throwing large spouts of water all over the bank. It was somewhat a scenic beauty for those just observing, but not quite a pretty sight for those who had to cross it.

"How are we going to get past?" Selphie asked, looking nervously at the rapid. It was not that she couldn't swim, but such a current could oust the best of swimmers

"Just jump across, Messenger Gal" Zell smirked "Afraid yet, Selph?"

Saying so, Zell leaped across the river, landing perfectly on the steps one by one, until he reached the other side. Upon doing so, a proud-faced Zell looked back at his peers, with a stylish thumb-up, probably ushered them to go on.

Next came Irvine and Quistis, whose skills were all too good to just move across that river. Finally, the shivering Selphie found herself at the edge of the water, shaking harder. Was she going to cross it? The answer was yes, for after just a bit of hesitation. So she took a deep breath, treaded back a few steps and then leaped for the nearest stone. She landed quite successfully, and took a second jump. But then, disaster struck just when she was least aware of it.

"Hey, this stone is so slippery…AAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Quistis and the whole gang turned back to the direction of the scream. To their horror, the place where just one second ago Selphie Tilmitt was standing had completely vanished; all what was left was the echo of her scream.

"SEFIE!!!" Irvine cried out, and then dived back into the river in the hope of recovering Selphie. He quickly swam to the point where his girl was last seen alive and well, but again, upon reaching a certain point in the river, Irvine's tall and muscular figure also vanished completely, without leaving a trace.

Quistis and Zell stood there on the other side of the river speechless. The current was still strong, sweeping off whatever in its path, and there was no signal from the two missing people. Not even a cry for help was heard.

"Damn!" Zell got furious, took off his t-shirt and leaped down the river for the other two. Unfortunately, he also vanished in quite the same way the others have upon reaching the middle of the river, and barely five seconds later, no more of Zell could be heard or seen…

"… Selphie? Irvine? Zell?" Quistis approached the river bank, bent down on her knees "Are you guys there?"

There was no answer, but for the echoing noise of water off granite made by the ominous river. It seemed for one second that the current had even gotten stronger after each SeeD vanished, as if it was gaining strength from consuming its unfortunate victims. And by the time Zell disappeared, the current seemed so strong that it could sweep even a huge boulder away without leaving the smallest trace.

"no… not now, you guys… this can't be true…" Quistis dropped herself on her knees heavily, and started to weep "Don't leave me alone…"

And the nightmare was yet to end. From right behind Quistis, three huge bloodthirsty Grendels had made their abrupt non-ceremonious appearance. Those beasts, although considered a species of lesser dragon, were actually much more dangerous than they may seem. Their whole bodies were extremely deadly, not by means of poison or flames, but their horrifying brutish strength itself. One adult would be more than capable of knocking down a ten-storey building it half an hour. What was more, they enjoyed tearing humans to bits and consuming their victims piece by piece. Also, their extreme agility would also deprive the unfortunate victim of any chance of getting away safely. Facing one of these alone would mean certain death. And now in front of Quistis Trepe stood three such creatures, ever ready to kill and eat her up.

As a matter of instinct, Quistis screamed, and was about to run away when the Grendels started to form their own formation. One, obviously older and more experienced, blocked her back. The other younger and obviously more bloodthirsty two then moved slowly towards her, devouring her hope of escape with each step they moved. Nervously, Quistis reached for her chain whip, looking forward to a losing battle and a horrible death.

Death? Right then she was afraid of death no more. All her friends… all those she cherished… her means of finding this world still livable… have vanished. All of them. Thinking so, Quistis felt no more fear. She stretched her chain whip, gave a loud crack, and pulled off the most defiant look she could afford. She then took the first move, rushing in and whipped as hard as she could at the elder Grendel. It was a useless strike. A Grendel's skin was so thick that they could well challenge a cannonball, let alone just a tiny whip like Instructor Trepe's. The three beasts then countered, and in a matter of seconds, Quistis was lying squarely on the ground covered in wounds, and was hardly breathing. They were simply too powerful to fight against alone.

Quistis lay there hopelessly. There, the three killers were approaching. Those gory eyes of theirs showed a great thirst for human blood. And the beautiful blonde named Quistis Trepe would be a perfect meal for the three great evils. The elder Grendel appeared first, licking her face. It was giving out a stench so intense that the poor girl was going sick. She would have very well vomited had she not realized that she needed to die a clean death… The beast was very, very close now. It opened its large, ugly jaws and was ever ready to take a bite. Quistis closed her eyes, waiting for a way too painful death sentence to be delivered

WHOOSH!!

Quistis could only hear the whizzing sound of an arrow, followed by the killer beast's loud growl of agony. It twisted and turned, bashing its sharp sword-like tail all around, until it hit a nearby tree, slashed halfway through it and was embedded in it. Quistis also turned over and looked at the foul beast's suffering, or in fact, its last moments. It took the lesser dragon two and a half minutes to die off completely. Was she saved? It seemed so. Looking up, the young instructor could see a long, well fletched arrow still sticking out of the beast's eyehole. _"It is strange"_ she thought _"that anyone would use a bow that well"_. For now, the blonde was saved from the elder Grendel's jaws.

But danger was far from over, as the two younger Grendels were still there, and was more than willing to kill to avenge their senior's death. They raced towards the place from which the arrow appeared, and to Quistis' surprise, one was killed off at the very moment it opened its savage jaws by an arrow piercing through its mouth to the back of its head. The other, realizing that they had met a very formidable opponent, backed off and was about to run away, but was not tolerated either. Another release of the bowstring, and another arrow struck right through the back of its neck, finishing the creature off completely.

"_What was that?"_ Quistis thought with amazement _"Three powerful dragons… dead in half a minute? How did the archer do it?"_

She didn't have to wonder for too long, for there, out of the bush leaped out a figure dressed in a green robe with a dark green overhead hood, holding a beautifully crafted and furnished golden longbow. He was not walking. Instead, he was riding firmly on a zebra steed, well tamed and willing to obey his every command. Riding out of the bush, her savior holstered his bow, got off the horse, and came towards each of the slain beasts, and quickly recovered his arrows. He then mounted the zebra again with a proud smile- something reminding Quistis of Seifer whenever he had just given Squall a real pain in the ass. Remembering this, she decided there was barely a hope for him to come and help her up, so she just lay down and faked death.

But the man riding the zebra saw right through her. He quietly dismounted, moved towards the poor girl, and pulled her up. Sooner than enough, Quistis found herself lying on the rider's lap. As a natural reaction, her face turned cherry red, and she tried to turn away from him, only to realize she was then too weak to do so. The zebra rider smiled, and looked her as if "See you moron, you cannot just pretend in front of me" was in his mind.

"You blushed?" He asked her "Meaning that you are alive and well. As a matter of fact, dead people don't blush"

"Grr…" Quistis growled "Get _off_ me! Right-NOW!"

"Are you sure?" The rider gave her another of that Seifer Almasy-trademarked sarcastic smile "There will be more funny beasts in this forest. Don't say I didn't warn you!"

And he stood up, posing as if he was about to sling Quistis on the ground again. Again, as a natural reaction, she clutched the man even firmer, blushing harder in the meantime. The rider shook his head teasingly, and then carried her in his arms to his trusted steed. He laid her across the horse's back, and patted on her shoulder

"Just kidding" He said, turning away from her and mounted the zebra "I am not that kind of a pervert rogue who would take advantage of damsels in distress"

Quistis said nothing. Her cheeks were still burning, as much as she didn't know why she had fallen into such an awkward situation with this complete stranger. But then, when she had calmed down, she found that there was no reason for her to actually rejoice. Her friends were dead… And she couldn't even try to recover their dead bodies. For a second tears were filling up Quistis' eyes. However, she was all too determined not to let this arrogant man know she was actually crying. She knew all too well the response of a Seifer-esque person should she know she was weeping. She just lay there on horseback, weeping quietly. Luckily, it seemed that her savior didn't realize her secret tears.

"Oh well, just leave her there, Legolas" the hooded archer spoke, patting the zebra on the head "We have much more to do"

Saying so, he turned back at the girl, who quickly and stealthily wiped away her tears, inspected her face, and then turned back to the zebra

"Come on, Legolas" he spoke to the zebra again "Aranorn awaits"

Then, he pressed the stirrups hard, yanking the steed onwards, and, to Quistis' horror, lunged straight towards the midstream of the river that had drowned her three best friends! For one second, Quistis thought that she was finished, as the waves of cruel water around her closed in on… But just as the water tapped at her face, Quistis found herself like in a whirlwind instead of drowning. Her head was filled with strange beeps, her brains tumbled up and down for several times, her blood circulation virtually stopped for some seconds, during which she had thought was as horrible as hell reincarnated.


	5. Chapter 5: In the Wake of Aranorn

_**Chapter 5**_

_**In the Wake of Aranorn**_

When it all stopped, Quistis opened her eyes, and the first thing she did was to throw all her breakfast and lunch out of her guts and on the grass below her. She never remembered having such a bad travel sickness before. Barely recovering from the terrible vomiting, the blonde was given another, though nicer, shock- She was alive and well, unscathed by the water or the "Hell reincarnated" situation. Quistis lifted her head to take a look around the place.

Where_ was _she? Everything was not the same as it used to be. The trees and greeneries around her were greener, fresher, more fragrant and maybe even more… natural. The pathway through the forest apparently made by Galbadian military trucks had also vanished into thin air, leaving but a carpet of green grass and beautiful flowers all around her. She could even hear soft, celestial songs sounding everywhere in harmony with the peaceful chirping of beautiful songbirds. It was a near paradise for a nature lover like her.

"It's… beautiful…" She mumbled, totally possessed by the natural scenery "Eh, mister, where are we?"

"Well, I wonder whether I should have brought you her or not, but if you really want to know, I will tell you that this place is called Aranorn. Welcome, young lady, to the renowned sacred forest of the elves!"

The blonde was amazed. The elves? She had heard of the elves in classic fairy tales many times. Not once had the story-teller, Edea as she could recall, mentioned that they were real. Yet now she was there in a close encounter with such a race. Hardly had Quistis recovered from her first astonishment when the second came right under way.

"QUISTY!" A loud yell echoed over the horizon, scaring off a few songbirds and disrupting the forest's tranquility temporarily. She turned around at the call, and to her amazement, in front of her stood the rest of her friends, safe and sound, as unharmed as she was. Zell Dincht, as always, was standing with one foot on the ground and the other proudly laid on a sideway boulder in such a Christopher Columbus pose, while Irvine Kinneas, rifle resting against his shoulder, was leaning on a huge oak tree, covering Selphie with his other arm. The look on their face was enough to guarantee nothing was wrong.

Quistis smiled, and ran towards them. They looked fine, and were fine actually- what had happened seemed to have been no more than a little rough crossing.

"Instructor" Zell said gleefully, stomping the ground "See that? We don't die that easily, do we?"

"And I am certain that never am I letting my Sefie die before me- at least not in front of my eyes- OUCH!" Irvine spoke his part, all the while nudging Selphie under her rib, and got a hard pinch on his side in return

"How about you, Quisty?" Selphie managed to get a word in from under Irvine's protective arm "Still OK?"

"I am alright" Quistis answered, looking around, obviously trying to capture as much of the natural beauty around her as she could "What a beautiful place, isn't it?"

All this while, the elven ranger had been looking at the group with increasing despise. Certainly, since the Timber War of Enroth the elves had been looking down on humans. And they would be especially displeased to see any uninvited human being in the forest they call home. Let alone, the reluctant savior of Quistis Trepe seemed to be one of the more arrogant of his kind.

"So, looks like I have transported a whole lot of you guys here by mistake, haven't I?" the elf interrupted with a sarcastic smile "Well, guess I'll have to report to my King and Queen of how I got you all stranded in our noble territory… through our portal"

"Oh yeah?" Zell snapped, stepping one step forward and rolling up his sleeve threateningly "Had it not been for your stinking 'portal' or whatever you call it, we would still be in OUR place now, not YOURS. Go tell your nutty king he needed to stay out of our place in the first place!"

"Oh well oh well oh well" the elf shook his head and lifted his shoulder disparagingly "So what can I say? Enjoy your stay, misters and misses, as you are going to be the _first ever_ human to have come into our sacred grove and, well, maybe suffer from the consequences…You know what, we elves don't take kindly to your kind here too well"

"Listen up, long-pointed-ear" Irvine shouted, cocking his rifle "If you wanna see your skull ruptured, just tell me, alright?"

"Say, young fellow" the elf answered back, not even looking at Irvine and his threatening pose "Did you know that we elves have been practicing archery long before your grandparents were even born? Well, to say the least, I can right now see an arrow through your forehead before you can press that slothful trigger"

"You…" Irvine took one step forward, frenzied, but was stop in his track by a more anxious and fearful Selphie

"No, Irvy" Selphie spoke worriedly, restraining her boyfriend within her petite arms, finally succeeding in braking a crazed Irvine "You should not do that…should you?"

"Ah, good, good, human" the elf said, taunting "Surrendered yet? Given up? Quitted? Ah, whatever…humans are still _that_ pathetic… no solution for you guys…"

The elf then turned away, leaving the four of them to stand in a circle still facing him angrily. He said nothing more but grinning all his way, and the four SeeDs were deadlocked by that kind of behavior as well. The confrontation soon boiled down to a four-on-one patience teaser. Finally, the silence broke off when Zell couldn't hold him back any longer, swipe Quistis away, put on his gloves and rushed at the arrogant elf. Quistis was caught by surprise, and before she knew it, the tiger named Zell Dincht had broken free from her hold, and went on his shock charge. The ex-instructor nearly screamed out seeing that- after all, she had observed the elf's archery skills, and she could only say it was legendary of sort. She tried to grab Zell back, but failed, and the spiky haired martial artist charged his way towards the elf like a horrifying firestorm…

WHOOOOSH!

Zell could barely brake. He could not believe his eyes or his ears any more. For the elf in front of him had just performed an unbelievable task with his bow and arrows. Within the one second span during which Zell closed in on him, the elf had shot three solid golden arrows through his left sleeve, rupturing it. The three deadly arrows then safely hit another oak tree behind Zell, and got firmly embedded in it in a straight line, showing what tremendous strength and accuracy with which the bolts were fired. The main thing was, deadly and accurately as the arrows were, they did not even touch his flesh, nor did they hit anyone else.

"Now, saw that, young people?" the elf snuffed "I can do even better than…Argh!"

The arrogant elf was stopped dead from further blabbering by a solid gunshot that astounded everyone. He bent down involuntarily, kneeling one knee on the ground, as if badly hurt. He dropped one of his hands on the ground, supporting the rest of his body, and then stayed still in that position. Blood was not quite visible, but it seemed that the elf had been hit... and killed…

Selphie turned back. She knew just one person around capable of carrying out that task- Irvine Kinneas. And now the cowboy was standing there, looking murderously furious, with his famous rifle held in one outstretched hand, fresh smoke coming out of its barrel. The brunette frowned as she looked at Irvine. Never before had he been so furious before. Never had she known that he could be so dangerous when he was that furious. The lone gunner, obviously insulted, had let go of his self-control and reached for the trigger…

Quistis looked at Irvine too. She was quite surprised by the way the usually calm and humorous Irvine Kinneas had reacted. She knew that some time ago he had shot down a few birds at a picnic for the gang, but shooting down a human-like being by the spur of a moment? That was simply not his nature. And furthermore, they were on alien territories, and it would never be wise to shoot down someone when they didn't even know what was happening around them.

The rest of the gang- saved for Zell, who was no more sympathetic to the elven ranger than Irvine- looked nervously at the elf. It seemed that Irvine had killed- the elf hadn't moved for some minutes now. Even though they were uncomfortable around that arrogant fellow, the ladies felt that killing wasn't quite the right thing to do to him. The shot had brought about temporary silence- it seemed that all the other SeeDs were either too shocked or astonished to speak up.

"H…hey, Irvy" Selphie finally broke the silence "Y…you killed him?"

However, hardly had Selphie finished the question when she heard something- the distinctive crushing sound of someone stepping on dried leaves. She turned back, and to her horror, realized that the apparently dead elf had stood up on his feet firmly. Without saying a word, the elf reached for his hood, detached it from his cloak, and took a look at it. His eyes flashed with astonishment- on the hood, the decorative feather dangling proudly over his forehead, a supposedly beautiful nightingale feather, had been cut in half. One half was still attached to the hood, and the other had been blown off somewhere. He trembled a bit, then looked up, his eyes catching the culprit's.

"You shot me, didn't you?" he asked, pointing at Irvine

"Oh yeah?" Irvine said in a sullen tone "I think that hood fits you more than the last one"

There was silence once more, as the elf slowly put on his hood again and mounted his bow. He looked up the sky some more, and then suddenly broke out in an uncontrollable laughter

"Okay, you're good, I admit" the elf said between his laughter

"Hey!" Zell cried out, nursing his torn sleeve "What's so funny?"

"That was a good counter, you know, man-with-the-rifle" the elf continued, looking at Irvine "That was the best shot I have ever seen in a human for such a long, long time"

The elf then walked towards the group, this time in a friendlier manner, and spoke to them openly

"Okay, men, I think I've forgotten my manners" he said "Well, it's a shame to start fighting someone without even knowing who he is!"

Then, he took a few more steps away from the still bewildered SeeDs, raised his arms and spoke proudly

"I am Ivor Goldenbow" he said with a broad smile "The best ranger in the whole of Aranorn, to this date"

"Zell Dincht" Zell replied, tearing up his badly torn sleeve angrily "And to say it outright, I don't like it very much when other people destroy my favorite shirt!"

"My name is Selphie Tilmitt" Selphie moved towards the elf and waved at him in a friendly manner "Please forgive my friend for his rather… rude behavior"

"Ah, great" Ivor said, turning to Irvine "And you, young gunner. How may I call you?"

"Irvine Kinneas" Irvine spoke coldly, still annoyed

"Irvine…" the elf repeated "Okay then. If you were an elf and used a bow I would call for a shooting competition right now.

Unfortunately you are a human and use a rifle… Maybe another day we'll have a rematch"

"So you'd like a rematch?" Irvine said, having warmed to Ivor a bit now "I'm ready to beat you anytime- given the chance"

"Call the shots" Ivor said, chopping his hand into the air. The he turned to Quistis and asked politely "Now, fair lady, could I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

"I am Quistis Trepe- call me Quisty if you like" Quistis also spoke, and then blushed lightly "Ivor, thank you for saving my life"

"Ah, no problem…" the elf grinned "It would be a pity not to help a pretty lady like you"

Quistis blushed harder. That fellow was saying that she was pretty? Was he trying to flirt with her or something? If he thought it was just that easy, he would have to think again, she thought.

"Well, I may be, but my whip certainly is not" she said, trying to conceal her reddened face

"Just kidding" Ivor grinned even louder "You think I _saved_ you because I _am _interested in you? Ah what a mistake, my lady. It is just family tradition. Got it? A Goldenbow never let a beast bully anyone and let it get away with it"

"Oh, forget it" Quistis said, now a red as a beetroot "What did you say we are now?"

"Aranorn" the elf answered "The glorious kingdom of the elves"

"I still don't get it!" Selphie said "So we have been here by a… you called it a portal, right? That means we are very far from our own world now, right?"

"You just took the word right out of my mouth" Ivor replied "This world is called Axeoth, and for your information we should be a few lives away from your place. Magical portals are the only things that can possibly link our worlds"

"And… and my friends and I have fallen through one such portal to your world?" Quistis asked "by accident?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid. That portal was created so that I could go home from your world" Ivor raised his shoulder "and I am afraid that it had been closed by the order of King Elwin and Queen Shaera"

"So how should we get back?" Quistis asked anxiously "We can't afford to be here forever!"

"Well, right now my kingdom is under attack by ferocious beasts… like the ones that attacked you." Ivor answered importantly "We are not so sure from where or when did they started to 'migrate' into our world. We only know one thing- they must be gotten rid of, and until they are dealt with, there will be no leaving Aranorn"

"Damn… We have people to search for, you know!" Irvine said angrily "We can't stay here!"

"Hmm… wait… maybe we could use your help!" Ivor laid his chin on his palm "Would you like to aid our glorious kingdom to clean up those filthy beasts?"

"Okay, okay, whatever" Zell said, clearly running out of patience "What must we do now to get the hell out of this place? Clear up those monsters? Just let the damn thing on!"

"You look like good warriors, I insist… four extra recruits would do good to any army in a pinch" Ivor explained "but first I must take you to our king and queen. They will decide what you need to do and how. Who know, you may end up killing a good army of them and get promoted!"

"Where are the king and queen?" Selphie asked impatiently "How could we go there?"

"They are now in the Wise Oak Castle to recruit new soldiers" Ivor answered promptly "We can go as soon as you are prepared"

"On foot?" Irvine growled "Well, we can walk but you had better find some better means for the ladies!" then he looked at Selphie naughtily "Right, Sefie? OUCH!" He was pinched on the rib once more.

"Hmm… about that, well, maybe we'll have a Town Portal to get us there" Ivor smirked "Magic is created to save people precious breath, I can see that"

"Town Portal?" Quistis asked in bewilderment

"Well, all what you have to do is to gather round here and close your eyes" Ivor instructed "and we'll be in Wise Oak in a nick of time"

Then Ivor drew a circle on the ground with the heel of his shoes, telling everyone to step into the circle. Zell promptly walked in, followed by Irvine, Selphie and Quistis. Then, when everyone had been inside, Ivor walked in as well, and drew out a leather scroll from his cloak. He started chanting in an unknown language, and as he chanted, blue magical beams of light started to surround the circle. The eerie light started to make Selphie a little nauseous, but resting her head on Irvine's arm seemed to ease the queasiness a bit.

Quistis took a stealthy look at Ivor Goldenbow. He was still chanting in the magician's language, or that was what she thought it was. As his chanting got louder, so did the light grow brighter and brighter, until the beams had become so bright and intense that they created a blue cylinder, with everyone inside. Finally, the tiny chanting turned into a loud screech and the spell culminated with the beams of light leaking inside the circle and eventually, blue light was filling all around the group. For a moment, Quistis thought she had drowned in the light, when Ivor told them all to close their eyes tightly, and she followed his words unconsciously. The last thing she knew was the whizzing sound of the wind by her ear as her body was carried far, far away…


	6. Chapter 6:Eternity's Call

Chapter 6

Eternity's Call

For some time Quistis Trepe thought she had passed out. Her entire body went numb and lost all senses. After all, how could someone ever feel something when strange gusts, small but seemingly extremely powerful, kept blowing in and out of her brain? Quistis was feeling quite the same. The only difference was, if anything, what entered her head was not wind, but rather psychotic waves probably emitted by the spell under way- mana waves, as what written in some of the older scripts in the School Library. But strangely enough, the waves, as Quistis could sense, was much more vivid than the slight drained-up feeling they used to experience when they used their own magic in battles past. The energy channeled by the magic scroll Ivor Goldenbow had enchanted was so powerful… indeed, much stronger than most other magic the Instructor had ever seen or manipulated before, maybe save for Ultima and Meteor.

For that brief moment, the young instructor seemed to come to how actually the excessive use of Guardian Forces had cost parts of their memories. If all spell casting would result in a mana gust within the skull, it would result in massive disruption to the brain's function. They were normal people at first, not born to use magic, not at all used to the mana waves. It was fortunate that they had just lost a part of their memories… Fortunately, the spells the SeeD used, together with their GF, was not extremely powerful so as to create such a pounding effect like what she was experiencing now… Still, the disoriented young lady could not figure out what was happening, while the offending psychotic waves kept gushing in and out of her cerebellum. Quistis passed out with so many unanswered questions clinging to her mind…

"Wake up, young lady, we are home"

Ivor Goldenbow's semi-sarcastic voice sounded somewhere over Quistis' head. She moved her fingers, then twitched her shoulders and finally opened her eyes. Slowly she was coming back to her senses. Below her she could feel a soft mattress of grass… not actually grass, for it was much more cozy and comfortable than the average kind of garden weed that Headmaster Cid had planted all over the quad. Slowly, the bewildered blonde curiously turned her wrist and picked up a small blade of grass from the 'mattress'

What a surprise! In Quistis' hand lay not any kind of ordinary grass, but a very strange kind of vegetation adorned with three leaves dispensing from a standard axle. The blade was small, yet the moment Quistis touched it, she immediately felt relieved, as if a lucky day of hers was coming right under way… Quistis lifted her lips and smiled, not because of any obvious reason, but rather on impulse.

However, her joy was nearly extinguished when she turned her eyes up, lazily looking for the person calling out for her and saw something not very pleasant to her eyes. There in front of her stood Ivor Goldenbow, his weapon strapped to his shoulder, standing in a rather inquisitive pose, as if asking her "Hey, when are you going to get up?", looking at the blonde arrogantly, as he had always been during their short meeting.

"Alright then, Lady Nearly-Eaten-Up-By-A-Dragon-Of-Sort, would you kindly stand up? We have a journey to be made" Ivor said with a grin "and his Highness King Elwin would not be very pleased seeing you coming late"

"You…" Quistis' face turned red, this time not out of embarrassment, but rather in extreme resentment "Argh! For one last time, my name is Quistis Trepe, an instructor of the Balamb Garden, and not Lady Nearly-Eaten-Up-By-A-Dragon-Of-Sort! Got it?"

Saying so, Quistis literally leaped upright, in a rather battle-ready position, facing the forest ranger with clear annoyance flaring in her expression.

"Okay, okay, you're so fearsome" Ivor shook his hand amusedly "Can't you take a joke?"

"You call THAT a joke?" Quistis roared. Never had she been so angry before, not even when she was demoted for not being able to get Seifer Almasy under direct order during the Dollet Operation

Quistis was about to resort to brute force, like perhaps giving the arrogant elf one taste of her rarely-used slaps, or worse, her chain whip, when suddenly the elf bent down, picked up a bunch of flowers and promptly presented to the surprised Quistis.

"Alright, alright, I said I was just kidding!" the elf quickly said with a rather polite smile in contrary to all his previous seemingly hostile expressions "Here, is this enough compensation?"

Quistis took the bunch of flowers. It was another great surprise to the young blonde. The grass was one amazement, and the flowers was yet another. It was greenish-red, a color very rarely seen in flowers anywhere, save for elaborately painted ones. In contrary, the flowers she was holding were naturally bright, and their scent was unmistakable. Quickly estimating in a girl's sense, Quistis came round to the conclusion that maybe none of the rather expensive perfumes she got at home as a hobby could match the refreshing and comforting scent of what she was housing in her hands right now.

"Wh…What is this? It's…It's so… like enchanted" Quistis stammered out of the utmost speculation a young lady could have considering 'their business'

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Ms. Trepe" the elf smiled "This flower is indeed enchanted"

"En…enchanted?" Quistis asked him back in an even greater amazement

"This is the Enchanted Faerie Clover Field not far from Wise Oak Castle. Known to cultivate clovers for both military and domestic use, this place is also famous for its sweet Clover Flowers, like what you are holding in your hand now" Ivor introduced heartily

"You mean… they are the plants known to bring fortune to people? And…" Quistis looked down at her feet, where she had inadvertently crushed under her heels numerous clovers "Oh my god!"

"Don't mind it" Ivor replied "only four leaved ones would bring about good fortune, and they do not grow in such a humble garden"

"Oh…" Quistis said, her voice filled with curiosity and interest "So how do your… err… people use these leaves?"

"Ah, you seem to want to know everything, don't you?" Ivor blinked "It is used mainly as food for our war Pegasi. Because of that, one of my friends, the Pegasi trainer Aeris Silverwing often hangs out around here in his free time"

"P… Pegasi? You mean those horses that could fly?" Quistis went wild again "You _have_ those creatures?"

"Well, there is a lot about us that you don't know. But you can't probably too" the elf said proudly "for the thousands of years of elven history and culture could not be summarized in a couple of words"

"Err…" Quistis looked down on the ground in embarrassment, suddenly changing the topic "Where are my friends?"

"Your friends?" Ivor replied, pointing to the left "The rifleman is out there playing with the swallow with his wife, and that hyperactive boxer should be up playing around those huge Faerie Mushrooms over there"

"Those two are not married" Quistis corrected him with a girlish grin "what made you think that they were?"

"Huh?" Ivor said "They are not? They are as close as if they were!"

"Got you checkmated, Mr. Ranger!" Quistis continued grinning "By the way, you said we have to go see the King, right? Why not go now?"

"Okay, if you want to go at night, please go on, but keep in mind that the white tigers here don't take too kindly to strangers, especially humans, and again especially those coming from another plane of existence!" Ivor lifted his lips, pointing at the sky. Quistis looked up, and in great embarrassment, realized that it was pitch black. It was obviously midnight. The enchantment of the flowers following the obviously dazzling effect of the spell had made it impossible for Quistis to tell that the hour was that late.

"Oops…" Quistis hid her face "Guess I failed to notice the sky…"

"No problem" Ivor replied "That would happen to us foresters as well, if we are too busy hunting or foraging to realize the change of day. But as for now, you should have a rest. We'll see the King the next day"

Saying so, the ranger dashed out to the place he said Zell, Irvine and Selphie was, coaxed them back, and then, when they had finally caught up with Quistis, told all four of them to sleep, after which he walked away to 'his own corner' apparently for a nap as well. It had been a very tiring day, so Zell and Irvine dropped down and snored very shortly after the order was given. Selphie spent some time trying to wake Irvine up to chat with her, but then gave up when she finally realized that it was hopeless, as the clover field was too good a bed for any tired adventurer to resist. She then fell under the charm of the natural bed as well, and dozed off as soon as she found out she could never ever wake up Irvine in such a time.

Quistis, however, was unable to rest like her friends did. Instead, she inadvertently drove her eyes at the direction the elf had wandered to, then turned back with a silent sigh. She was feeling absolutely disoriented to take any rest that day. Quistis gazed at the sky, one hand across her forehead, thinking…

Male companionship…

Had she ever been able to enjoy meeting a person of the opposite sex since birth? Everyone could say, Squall Leonhart, who should have been true as a matter of common sense was someone she could enjoy spending her time with, especially since she had officially declared that she considered him a younger brother. But it had not turned out that way, as saying so, she had been lying to both her friends and herself. She had really hoped for something better with their relationship…

"Go talk to a wall"

She still remembered what Squall had told her. She had obviously expected much more going out to the 'secret area' with him that late on that graduation night. A little comforting, some encouragement, or something as extreme as, like how the 'evil' part in her would fancy, a few curses for Headmaster Cid's unreasonable decision, would have done her good. He did none of those. Instead, he dismissed her most sincere emotional plea as something childish and should be dashed out. He had obviously hurt her deeply, but she was not angry, nor cross with him. She really had harbored something, some sort of sacred feelings for him.

Her hope of building something more stable with Squall went on for some time later, until the day they bumped into Rinoa Heartilly. Since then, Leonhart was found spending more and more and more time with Rinoa, until the day Quistis found he was willing to give up his life for Rinoa's. That was it. Her hope had been deprived wholly. What else was left of a choice to her then, if not declare an official unconditional surrender?

Yet, the actions she had taken were playing its retribution on her. Slowly, since the end of the Sorceress War, which meant since the day the rest of the gang got sorted out- Irvine hooks up with Selphie, Zell playing the knight errant to his princess the library girl, and of course, Squall took Rinoa's hands for a better future, Quistis had been turning herself into an imperfect copy of Squall's nihilistic behavior. She had even hidden a little note in her diary stating that she would never-need-a-male-companion-ever-again. If it was the way things were supposed to be, it was better for her to accept it rather than trying hopelessly to defy it, she thought.

She was wrong. Deadly wrong indeed. One could only forsake an important aspect of his or her emotional life under two circumstances, being that he or she had something of great importance to which most of his or her time has to be devoted to in order to succeed, or that he or she had had such a great trauma that dashed out completely that aspect. For some time now, she had mistakenly believed that she had fallen into the second category. That had been another lie to herself, as she was still clenching her fist in great fury and jealousy secretly whenever she saw Squall and Rinoa going together. Unfortunately, before all this happened, they had _always _been going together. That has driven her to the verge of going insane, should she not be a calm and contented person she was. She was not prepared, and would never be prepared to inherit the emotional nihilism Squall once named himself…

And today she met Ivor Goldenbow.

For a brief while, she had believed that that man was a really arrogant fellow, an even more extreme copy of Squall, just amongst the reason she had to stay away from him. But then, she was able to see underneath that arrogance a more considerate personality. For instance, never before had anyone give her some flowers on impulse. She did got some, but those were from those pesky admirers at school hoping to hook up with their instructor…

Thinking so, Quistis turned a few times on her soft 'bed', and then bit her fingers. She inhaled the fresh scent of the flowers the ranger had just given her. It was so sweet that she had the feeling that the entire petal field at Edea's house could be outshined by a couple of those flowers. A wild thought emerged in her, what if she could stay there forever? Forget about Squall and Rinoa? Forget about all the bad memories and start all over again, for she was still young and had plenty of chances to mend things up? And if it could, have a companion… like that elven ranger?

Or was it that that elf was interested in her?

Not really, as it seemed. Certainly, he looked extremely natural talking to her. Even when she was in his arms after being knocked down by the rampaging Grendel, he looked absolutely normal. He could never have been that normal had he been interested in her in the least bit. Meaning that, he could NOT be interested in her, whatever.

So was it that she was interested in him?

How could it ever be? Secretly, for some time, the 'evil' side within Quistis had been hoping that something really bad would happen to Rinoa, so that Squall could be hers. That meant that, the majority of Quistis Trepe was still reserved for Squall Leonhart, should he one day regret and come back to her. She herself could not fancy dreaming about another man. Let alone, Ivor was an elf, with oversized, nothing human-like ears and about ten inches taller than her. Not to mention, as told in Edea's tales, elves often lived for thousands of years, meaning that the charming elven ranger talking to her just now could be far older than her own grandparents…

It didn't take too long for Quistis to be engulfed in her own thoughts though, for she had also been tired out, and needed a serious rest…

The next morning came to Quistis with even more surprise. Never before has she gotten up so early as she did that morning, ever since the battle against Ultimecia. She could not tell what it was, but it was clear that something had been working on her, thusly making it impossible for her to keep slumbering. Strangely enough, her tiredness and fatigue she had experienced the past night, together with most of the sleepiness vanished as soon as she lifted her head to the fresh scent of morning. Though Quistis' wrist watch probably broke down during the trip to Aranorn, by the looks of things she could tell that it couldn't be past six yet, the time at which Balamb Garden itself would be shrouded in a deep slumber yet to end, as no one would probably bother to get up early. Anyway, there had been no point to, for a world without a sorceress to mess things up, or a world superpower hell-bent on global domination would mean not much business for SeeDs as well. Even the mayhem caused by the absence of both Squall and Headmaster Cid could not actually mess up with everyone's sleep.

And today Instructor Trepe had gotten out of bed before dawn, and without the help of an alarm clock. It was quite an achievement, to some extent. The young blonde wriggled for a short while before lifting her head off the ground, and then tied up her beautiful mass of flowing golden hair, straightened up her garments and subconsciously went about searching for some water to wash her face. Shortly after that she was able to find a small stream running down the middle of the clover field, overflowing with the purest, sweetest water that she has ever seen. A short while later, the instructor had gotten much done up, ready for a new day, as the rest of her fatigue had been effectively purged by the essence of the fresh forest stream water, as if the entire place had been enchanted in such a way that any type of fatigue would be exterminated upon contact with the sacred environment.

Wiping up the remaining droplets of water off her chin, Quistis rose up and looked at the sky. It was then dawn break, signified by lots of little songbirds chirping in the horizon. Even the birds in the forest seemed holy- hundreds, or even thousands, of those little winged angelic beings gathered on treetops, over the branches, amongst the clouds, or even over the oversized mushrooms, singing their anthems in unison. No known concerts could ever match this natural orchestra in terms of both quality and quantity, ever.

"Beautiful…" Quistis exclaimed softly in amazement, not knowing that the elven ranger had already been behind her

"Say, we'd take that as a compliment" he returned the words, startling Quistis, who was at that time so absorbed in the natural beauty to pay attention to the surrounding

"Huh? Oh… it's you…" a nearly frightened Quistis turned back, facing the ranger in the process "You were up so early…"

"I did not sleep to be up, lady" Ivor sneered "I just entered semi-hibernation"

"Semi what?" Quistis opened her eyes wide in bewilderment "What is that?"

"We rangers have an innate ability to sleep with one eye, keeping the other awake to keep watch" Ivor smiled "so that if some uncivilized animals come and attack us, we could be prepared to defend ourselves"

"Eh?" Quistis pushed the question "I thought you guys are friends of nature, and those animals should be like… your friends?"

"One thing, Ms. Trepe, and remember it for it's very important" Ivor shook his hands, speaking softly "Not all animals are good, beautiful, kind-hearted, good natured or whatever you call it. Many of them are greedy, selfish, aggressive and dumb… all the vices humans may have, they have"

"B…But why?"

"Nature is the greatest melting pot that the universe has ever forged" Ivor replied philosophically "The chaotic characteristic of nature means that you can expect as much from nature as you can in a human society, or maybe even more"

Then, seeing that his speech had actually silenced the blonde out of astonishment, Ivor continued, more slowly and emphatically

"You see, it takes much to live well in this place… the ability to merge into the chaos, to accept it as part of you, and to use it the way you think fit and still preserving it as it is. That is the basic knowledge any of us need to have"

"Err…" Quistis asked shyly, as if feeling that her knowledge was by no means as diverse and rich as of the man talking to her "But at least this place is safe, right? Why keep your guard up in such a peaceful place?"

"Well, I forgot to warn you that a week ago a band of white tiger deserters had escaped from Wise Oak Castle, and they are still now on the loose. Many other denizens of the surrounding areas have reported of this band of renegade 'knights'. It's better to keep an eye out for them than get our throats jabbed by midnight"

"'Knights' you said? Why?" Quistis asked curiously

"Did I tell you that the greatest and firmest supporters of King Elwin and his Elven Court are the stalwart White Tigers ever since the Civil War of Aranorn twenty years ago?" Ivor spoke scholastically "In the eyes of the other forest dwellers, they are his knights, paladins, retainers or whatever fancy words humans may use to address them"

"And some of them are deserters? Is there any reasons for that?"

"Hmm…" Ivor sighed "Did I tell you that not all animals are good?"

"Oh…I see…" Quistis replied, and then changed the topic "Would you mind if I…err…go wake the others up?"

Saying so, Quistis slowly turned away, and took a few more steps towards where the others were sleeping. But hardly had she started covering ground when she heard a deafening shout from behind.

"Ms. Trepe! DOWN! NOW!"

Subconsciously, Quistis fell on her knees and lunged at the soft clover ground, as swiftly as a squirrel. And before she knew it, the whizzing sound of an arrow being shot at full velocity could be heard approaching, followed by the sound of a metallic pointed object thrusting into flesh, concluded by a horrifying roar of pain…

(_**Extra Disclaimer**_: The Aeris mentioned in this chapter is a _**male**_ Hero of Might and Magic belonging to the Rampart town (Heroes III) and Preserve town (Heroes IV) and should not be confused with Aerith Gainsborough, the Maiden who Travels the Planet in any case)


End file.
